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| Martha |
Joan Baez banned at Walter Reed hospital
Wed May 2, 9:26 AM ET
WASHINGTON - Folk singer and anti-war activist Joan Baez says she doesn't know why she was not allowed to perform for recovering soldiers recently at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as she planned.
In a letter to The Washington Post published Wednesday, she said rocker John Mellencamp had asked her to perform with him last Friday and that she accepted his invitation.
"I have always been an advocate for nonviolence and I have stood as firmly against the Iraq war as I did the Vietnam War 40 years ago," she wrote. "I realize now that I might have contributed to a better welcome home for those soldiers fresh from Vietnam. Maybe that's why I didn't hesitate to accept the invitation to sing for those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. In the end, four days before the concert, I was not 'approved' by the Army to take part. Strange irony."
Baez, 66, told the Post in a telephone interview Tuesday that she was not told why she was left off the program by the Army. "There might have been one, there might have been 50 (soldiers) that thought I was a traitor," she told the paper.
The Post reported that Walter Reed officials did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday, but that in an e-mailed statement published Monday on RollingStone.com, spokesman Steve Sanderson said the medical center received the request for participation by Baez just two days before the concert.
"These additional requirements were not in the agreement/contract and would have required a modification," Sanderson told the magazine's Web site.
Baez's manager, Mark Spector, told the Post that Mellencamp's management invited Baez to perform in March and handled all the arrangements. The Post said Mellencamp's manager, Randy Hoffman, did not return calls requesting comment and that Mellencamp's publicist said the singer was ill Tuesday and unavailable.
But Mellencamp earlier told RollingStone.com: "They didn't give me a reason why she couldn't come. We asked why and they said, 'She can't fit here, period.' "
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| gimmekeef |
If I was Walter Reed....I'd want my name taken off that hospital.... |
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| CraigP |
quote:
gimmekeef wrote:
If I was Walter Reed....I'd want my name taken off that hospital....
I hear you on that. This mess is really out of control and only getting worse... Damn. I mean, I'm not a fan of her's but I'm sure that every returning soldier, as well as ones in this shit right now overseas are AGAINST THE WAR and would appreciate her for her humility. |
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| Martha |
Was she gonna sing Masters of War?
We certainly do live in a political world.
:-) |
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| pdog |
There's people against the war, who support the troops...
There's people for the war, who neglected our troops...
I'm against idiots!
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| Riffhard |
The thought of Joan Baez performing for our vets would be akin to showing a Jane Fonda film fest for them. I mean it's like asking Ice T to perform for the graduating class of police cadets! C'mon guys. Can you really not see the absurdity of an old school hard core military basher from the Vietnam era not being refused by the Army brass?
Let's remember that,the author of Masters Of War himself, Bob Dylan distanced himself from Baez and her crowd after they got too outspoken about their left leaning causes. Bob said that while agreed with some of what they were saying he refused to be their figurhead. He also said,"I ain't no leftist!" Baez is,and always has been a leftist. That anyone would try and ridicule the army for not wanting her to perform is being intellectually dishonest about her past. The question is not,why won't they let her perform? No. The question is,why would they even consider it?
Riffy
[Edited by Riffhard] |
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| pdog |
Henry Rollins is welcome there, yet he is an outspoken opponent of the war and Bush.
It's bullshit to deny someone to bring comfort to our wounded troops, especially considering our governments horrible track record of caring for vets!
I've yet to meet a Vet who says the only fight for some Americans. They fight for Dems and Reps. They also fight for the right to protest the very war... Pat Tillman was a liberal as you can get, and not only was his service made into a fairy tale, by definition he stood for everything opposed to the Neo-Con ageneda. Yet he enlisted,served and died... Some serious irony there, when I hear his type called traitorous an anti-American.
They make vehicles that could've saved hundred of lives, kiled by IED's, but the money wasn't there. Yet they can afford to pay 2 million dollars to have a civilian drive a truck, that the army could've done for itself...
convince me, that the troops are supported well, by the people who sent them to war...
Saying Jane Fonda shouldn't count is saying, that only those who agree with you are worthy, the rest are some sort of unwanted baggage... Then again, we are talking about an administration that only represents those who follow the party line, and other Americans don't count... Then again, these same people used lies to disgrace people who actually served this country, like John MCcain and John Kerry. So they have nothing left now, except to point the finger and blame other people for their failures. |
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| Mel Belli |
I was at the Walter Reed show. Mellencamp acquitted himself very well, and put on a great performance. There was absolutely no need for Baez to be there, so I'm not sorry she got spiked. No matter how he feels about the war, Mellencamp has populist cred; Baez does not.
As for the hospital scandal, I spoke to a National Guardsman with a prosthetic leg. He said, without fail, he's had nothing but the best care, and that there are guys around there who would "complain if there was oxygen in the air." |
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| mojoman |
quote:
Martha wrote:
Was she gonna sing Masters of War?
We certainly do live in a political world.
:-)
where have all the flowers gone............ |
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| Riffhard |
Pdog you missed my point I think. Baez has made a carreer out of bashing the military going back to the early days of Vietnam. Would you be equally upset if Jane Fonda was refused a speaking engagment at Walter Reed? I know that it is the popular political sport to blame everything from global warming to Joan Baez's quashed concert on Bush,but I'd wager my last cent that Bush had nothing to do with this call.
As I have stated before I am a military brat,and I can assure you that my father would sooner spit in her face than ever see her perform for wounded vets! That's just a fact. The military has a long memory,and it was Joan Baez's crowd of 60's rejects that really did spit on our troops as they returned from service in Nam. I personally watched my own father get called a baby killer inside LAX in 1973!! I saw it with my own eyes!! Joan Baez and many other delussional ill informed idiots on the left jinned up the anti military rehtoric of those days that caused this kind of insanity.
To think that the military brass should just forget that is being a little too PC for my taste.
Riffy |
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| pdog |
quote:
Riffhard wrote:
Pdog you missed my point I think. Baez has made a carreer out of bashing the military going back to the early days of Vietnam. Would you be equally upset if Jane Fonda was refused a speaking engagment at Walter Reed? I know that it is the popular political sport to blame everything from global warming to Joan Baez's quashed concert on Bush,but I'd wager my last cent that Bush had nothing to do with this call.
As I have stated before I am a military brat,and I can assure you that my father would sooner spit in her face than ever see her perform for wounded vets! That's just a fact. The military has a long memory,and it was Joan Baez's crowd of 60's rejects that really did spit on our troops as they returned from service in Nam. I personally watched my own father get called a baby killer inside LAX in 1973!! I saw it with my own eyes!! Joan Baez and many other delussional ill informed idiots on the left jinned up the anti military rehtoric of those days that caused this kind of insanity.
To think that the military brass should just forget that is being a little too PC for my taste.
Riffy
I hate her music, and really don't know alot about her 60's stuff, except she was in the forefront... I see your point, and my anger about other stuff is misdirected on this topic... |
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| Riffhard |
quote:
pdog wrote:
I hate her music, and really don't know alot about her 60's stuff, except she was in the forefront... I see your point, and my anger about other stuff is misdirected on this topic...
You know the truth is I really don't have a dog in this fight. I don't like the way she,and her's,blamed the vets for Vietnam,but I have no feelings good or bad towards her personally. However,I can certainly understand why the military brass of today would tell her to fuck off these days considering that that is exactly what she told them to do for decades now.
My question is why would anyone think that the Army is wrong here? I mean these same people that are screaming for Baez's right to perform didn't say squat about her spewing her hatred towards these same peole back in the sixties and early seventies. Just seems like another case of selected memory from the left to me.
Riffy |
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| pdog |
quote:
Riffhard wrote:
You know the truth is I really don't have a dog in this fight. I don't like the way she,and her's,blamed the vets for Vietnam,but I have no feelings good or bad towards her personally. However,I can certainly understand why the military brass of today would tell her to fuck off these days considering that that is exactly what she told them to do for decades now.
My question is why would anyone think that the Army is wrong here? I mean these same people that are screaming for Baez's right to perform didn't say squat about her spewing her hatred towards these same peole back in the sixties and early seventies. Just seems like another case of selected memory from the left to me.
Riffy
Things are just heated, and the anger is misdirected by both parties... I'm pissed no one is screaming about the fiscal irresponsibilty. |
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| Zambero |
So what is this, North Korea? Mustn't upset Dear Leader with an inappropriate choice of entertainment for the troops that he's systematically killing off and maiming through multiple tours in Iraq, land of "Mission Accomplished".
If Baez were to sing for free in my neighborhood, I doubt if I'd bother walking down the street to see her. And troops receiving care at Walter Reed or elsewhere should also have the choice of either seeing her perform or staying the hell away. But in a (supposed) free and open society it certainly smacks of censorship to ban her from performing altogether.
Just what the hell are we fighting for? The cause of freedom so I'm told? It's certainly not freedom that would apply here in the U.S.A. Thanks again Bush-Cheney-Rove-Assholes, for doing a superb job of protecting us from ourselves. |
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| Riffhard |
quote:
Zambero wrote:
So what is this, North Korea? Mustn't upset Dear Leader with an inappropriate choice of entertainment for the troops that he's systematically killing off and maiming through multiple tours in Iraq, land of "Mission Accomplished".
If Baez were to sing for free in my neighborhood, I doubt if I'd bother walking down the street to see her. And troops receiving care at Walter Reed or elsewhere should also have the choice of either seeing her perform or staying the hell away. But in a (supposed) free and open society it certainly smacks of censorship to ban her from performing altogether.
Just what the hell are we fighting for? The cause of freedom so I'm told? It's certainly not freedom that would apply here in the U.S.A. Thanks again Bush-Cheney-Rove-Assholes, for doing a superb job of protecting us from ourselves.
ROTFLMAO!!!
More insane hysteria from another Bush hater. So typical! This has nothing at all to do with your perception of a "free and open" society! Is not the Army "free" to tell a women that has constantly labeled them murderers that they choose to tell her to get lost? Many of those in the higher ranks of the Army that run Walter Reed have long and vivid memories of this woman engaging in the most vicious lies and casting guilt on thousands of vets coming home from South East Asia decades ago! Now she wants to perform for troops why? Because the sport of slaming Bush is the new political chic de jour. That you think the Army should play along with that shit tells me that you know next to nothing about the integrity of the military!
They did not tell Baez to get lost because of Bush! Far from it. They told her to get lost because of her long long history of being staunchly anti military plain and simple. I find their reasons wholly understandable even if they do have to give a politically correct bullshit lie to explain their reasons. They hate her because of the harm that she personally caused many vets in the past. Yet to the chronic Bush haters this whole stupid incident gives them another bullshit thing to blame on him. That game is getting so old.
As for giving the vets the choice of going to see her! LOL!
You think that the troops give two shits about Joan Baez?!!
I think not!
Riffy |
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| glencar |
John Cougar Mellencamp is pretty far leftish. If he were also banned, I'd say Baezed had a point but the only point I see here is the one on her nose. She should work on some new songs that'll sell to no one. Her moment passed long ago & even she admits (now!) howe wrong she yas. |
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| Brainbell Jangler |
quote:
Riffhard wrote:
Many of those in the higher ranks of the Army that run Walter Reed have long and vivid memories of this woman engaging in the most vicious lies and casting guilt on thousands of vets coming home from South East Asia decades ago!
Riffy
Lies? Vicious lies? What, me lie?
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| glencar |
One massacre does not a truth make. Baezed is a scandal unto her own self. Even you should be horrified by her latest scam. |
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| Brainbell Jangler |
It was wrong to spit on the vets or blame them for a criminal foreign policy. But it wasn't just one massacre. And we were right about Vietnam just as we are right about Iraq. |
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| glencar |
Right about Iraq? As in "Let's tell the enemy when we'll leave & what they have to do to cause us to leave"? I think Iraq is dicey & Bush & Co. screwed up what could have been relatively simple but what Pelosi & that other dipshit are doing is nearly treasonous. |
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| glencar |
quote:
Brainbell Jangler wrote:
It was wrong to spit on the vets or blame them for a criminal foreign policy. But it wasn't just one massacre. And we were right about Vietnam just as we are right about Iraq.
And let's not forget who started that "criminal foreign policy"! Saint JFK done it! |
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| Brainbell Jangler |
Actually, it goes back at least as far as Truman, who reversed FDR's commitment to end French colonialism and support an independent Vietnam. You could even say that the refusal of the Great Powers to admit Ho Chi Minh to the Versailles negotiations in 1919 was the beginning. But the policy of flouting international law by cancelling the 1956 national elections in Vietnam and the establishment of a phony puppet regime in the southern sector of Vietnam (which was always one country) is the sole responsibility of Eisenhower and his red-baiting Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles. Everything Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon did followed inexorably from that seed of folly. |
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| pdog |
The Japanese were left to run Viet Nam after the surrender... Funny... You don't disband a defeated army G.W. Bush... |
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| lotsajizz |
Brainbell Jangler's history lesson will go over the heads of the small, unAmerican, right wing cabal that has festered here... |
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| Nellcote |
The duet Baez performs with Mellencamp on his new disc is wicked pissah! |
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| Maxlugar |
Joan Baez suffers from ACC...Acute Cobweb Cooter.
Bwaaa ha ha ha!!!!
Maxy!
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| glencar |
quote:
Brainbell Jangler wrote:
Actually, it goes back at least as far as Truman, who reversed FDR's commitment to end French colonialism and support an independent Vietnam. You could even say that the refusal of the Great Powers to admit Ho Chi Minh to the Versailles negotiations in 1919 was the beginning. But the policy of flouting international law by cancelling the 1956 national elections in Vietnam and the establishment of a phony puppet regime in the southern sector of Vietnam (which was always one country) is the sole responsibility of Eisenhower and his red-baiting Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles. Everything Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon did followed inexorably from that seed of folly.
Typical horseshit from the peanut gallery. JFK ramped it up & that's when casualties started happening. Under your sophistry, we could say it all started with Adam & Eve. |
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| glencar |
quote:
lotsajizz wrote:
Brainbell Jangler's history lesson will go over the heads of the small, unAmerican, right wing cabal that has festered here...
Oh & look! The peanut gallery answered its call! |
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| Zambero |
"Is not the Army "free" to tell a women that has constantly labeled them murderers that they choose to tell her to get lost?"
A: In a military dictatorship, yes. I forgot, that's what we have now under Bushco.
"Many of those in the higher ranks of the Army that run Walter Reed have long and vivid memories of this woman engaging in the most vicious lies and casting guilt on thousands of vets coming home from South East Asia decades ago!"
I'm a veteran of the Vietnam conflict and I can assure you from my own experience that troops were subjected to a very similar barrage of lies and wanton misuse at the hands of the gov't as they are receiving today. Yes, the entire country was at best indifferent or even hostile to Vietnam vets which was wrong. One advance our society has made in recent years is to differentiate between the sacrifices made by troops who are being systematically abused as cannon fodder by a corrupt and lying administration, and the liars themselves. Bush hater? I don't know anyone who doesn't hate the bumbling arrogant SOB. By all means, count me in as one of the 72% who no longer fawn over Bush-Cheney's inept conduct of their dirty little lying whore of a civil war. WWII was over in less time than "Mission Accomplished". Nuff said. |
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| Martha |
quote:
Nellcote wrote:
The duet Baez performs with Mellencamp on his new disc is wicked pissah!
I LOVE that CD too Nellcote! I listen to it all the time.
What did Johnny play at this gig? Anyone have the set list?
peace,
Martha |
